- Conference
- 2012 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 19 October 2011
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes with concern the increasing numbers of looked after children in the UK. Since 2006 the number has increased by 13%, and continues to grow year on year.
The reasons for children being looked after are complex, but they include abuse, neglect, parental substance abuse, disability and involvement in the youth justice system. Poverty, caused by low pay, unemployment and cuts to the benefit system, all of which impact disproportionately on women, can only exacerbate these growing problems.
Conference further notes that this situation is worsened by the government’s cuts to the services which are designed to protect and support women. Women who may have been able to escape a violent partnership, seek help with drug or alcohol issues, be supported whilst experiencing mental health problems or seek advice and support through children’s centres such as Sure Start are finding that those sources of support have been cut or withdrawn.
Lone parents, of which 90% are women, are particularly vulnerable to these cuts, and may be reluctant to seek help because of society’s stigmatisation of lone parent families and concerns that they will have their children removed from their care.
The cuts in these services are having a significant budgetary impact as the cost of children’s social care increases. The increasing number of children in care is resulting in more children being placed with private sector fostering agencies, which can double or treble the cost of foster carers registered with the local authority. Private sector foster agencies often charge over £1000 per week to place a child with a foster carer. With around 13,000 such placements at any one time, the cost to the taxpayer is in excess of £650 million per year.
Conference believes that profit should not be made from looking after the most vulnerable children, and that resources should instead be directed to supporting women as mothers and, wherever possible and safe to do so, keeping families intact.
Conference therefore calls upon the national women’s committee to:
1)work with the local government service group to campaign against the increasing drive for private rather than public sector provision for children’s social care; for funding for sufficient social workers to meet the needs of all vulnerable children in need of social care; and to campaign for all foster carers to be registered through a local authority ceasing the expensive profit driven fostering agencies trading in looked after children;
2)campaign with the NEC and regional women’s committees to protect those services used primarily by women, and provided primarily by women (including Sure Start centres) which support women caring for children who are facing challenges in that care.